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- Studebaker Annual Concours 2011

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The Club held it’s Studebaker Annual Concours on the weekend of 3rd – 4th September, 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To start the weekend off, dinner was held on the Saturday night at the Veteran Car Club Rooms, Carindale. The Concours dinner was well attended and gave everyone a chance to catch up before the Concours, Display & Swap Meet on the Sunday.

The Concours was also held at the Veteran’s Car Club Rooms & started at 9.00am. Total number of Studebakers on display was 34, a substantial effort from all our members and visitors. Studebaker Club members came from N.S.W. and New Zealand for the Concours weekend. Many thanks for making the trip, always great to see other National & International Club Members. A barbecue lunch was organised by the Club. A huge thankyou goes to Cousin Gordon (Zig) for being the Chef and also to the girls in the kitchen for the preparation, especially cutting up all those onions! The barbecue was a relaxing and tasty lunch for all Club Members & family.

The Studebaker Merchandise had a steady flow of customers all day, the new Studebaker pens with a floating Studebaker on the side were very popular and sold out quickly. A wide selection of Studebaker parts were also available for members to purchase.

At 2.00pm Club President Dick Adsett presented Trophies to the winners and thanked everyone for coming along as well as thanking all the volunteers who helped with the day.

The Winners were:

1st – Greg Devantier – 1964 Cruiser
2nd – Steve Leyden – 1963 Champ Pickup
3rd – Clive Summer – 1955 President Hardtop
4th – George Udovicich – 1961 Lark Convertible
5th – Len Bajenoff – 1953 Commander Starliner
6th – Steve Leyden – 1961 Lark Hardtop
7th – Dave Lucas – 1952 Commander Starlight Coupe
8th – Chris Skinner – 1964 Daytona Hardtop
9th – Pauline Oldman – 1960 Hawk Coupe
10th – Dave Allen – 1964 Cruiser

Longest Distance Travelled Trophy – Tony McKinnon from New Zealand.

Longest Distance Driven Tropy – Steve Leyden from Sydney. People’s Choice Trophy – Steve Leyden for his 1961 Lark. Raffle was won by Lachlan who was contacted by phone.

One of the most interesting vehicles on display at the Concours was a 1961 Lark Hardtop. This car was orginally owned by Kimball Thomson from New Zealand who would always come across the Tasman for our Concours. Steve Leyden is now the proud owner of the Lark which was originally sold new to the Amercian Consulate in Brisbane. Des Skinner purchased and restored the car in 1976. In 2005 Kimball purchased the Lark and it’s home was now Wellington, New Zealand. Steve has been attending the Queensland Concours for the past 7 years and has entered 3 different Studebakers during this time. When New Zealand had their Concours & National Meets, Steve would always drive the 61 Lark Hardtop as Kimball owned many Studebakers & always needed drivers for his wonderful collection of vehicles.

The 1961 Lark Hardtop was manufactured with RHD in South Bend, Indiana, U.S.A. & was shipped to Australia to start it’s life.

Specifications:
259 c.i. v8 (4272cc)
4 Bbl Carburettor
195 hp (105kw)
Top Speed 112 mph (180kmh)
Air Conditioned
Power Steering

Around 65,00 Larks were built in 1961 of which less than 3,000 were hardtops. Approximately 100 hardtops were built in RHD.

The weekend is always a time for all of us to swap Studebaker tales with old Studebaker friends and enjoy our Studebakers.

To see more Photos, please follow link to the Gallery

- Scenic Rim Tour 2011

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Scenic Rim Tour

On Sunday 26th June, 2011 members of our Studebaker Car Club enjoyed a run
along the Scenic Rim to Australia’s most accessible world Heritage listed
rainforest and diverse mountain terrain.
www.scenicrim.com.au

Twelve Studebakers and their occupants met at Yamanto, ready to head off
at 9.00am. First stop was to visit Panorama Antique Collection at Roadvale
which houses Vintage & Classic Motorcycles, Collectables & Antiques, Vintage
Cars & Memorabilia. The Museum is overseen by Rod & Jenny Beasley and their
sons Brendan & Jason. Many thanks to Brendan who opened especially for our
Club on Sunday morning, everyone enjoyed their chance to see all the
motorcycles & Collectables.

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Next our Studebaker convoy headed off to visit a Vintage Aircraft Hanger
privately owned by Nigel Arnot. Nigel has been a pilot since 1974, he
restores aircraft and needless to say he loves planes and flying. The Hanger
has 18 fully assembled & operational aircraft which includes a Tiger Moth
1941, a Russian Yak, 1952 & a Polish Wilga, 1990. There is also 6
disassembled aircraft waiting to take to the sky one day soon.

The rarest plane in Nigel’s collection is the Ryan STM (Sport Trainer
Military) 1936, it has a slightly wider cockpit opening to accommodate
the wearing of parachutes by the crew. This aircraft was built in America
and has spent most of it’s life in Australia. The visit to the Vintage
Aircraft Hanger was extremely interesting and everyone thanked Nigel for
showing them his rare collection.

Club Member Shane Hodby guided all of us to his property “Stables DeVille”
for a B-B-Q lunch. All of us enjoyed a relaxing lunch and some time to
inspect “Shane’s Shed” their horses and donkeys. A big thankyou to Shane
& Annette for having us and our Studebakers at their picturesque property.

On the road again to Bunjurgen Estate Vineyard, owned by Dave & Sue McMaugh
which is surrounded by the views of the Scenic Rim mountains. The vineyard
is known for it’s Shiraz, Boutique Chambourcin wines and Port. Club Members
tasted the wines & port while Dave talked about each selection. This
inevitabily lead us to the Cellar Door, where we purchased some of the
wine that we had enjoyed a short while earlier. Thanks to Dave & Sue for
their hospitality.
www.bunjurgenestatevineyard.com.au

The Scenic Rim Tour was a great “scenic” day out and everyone had a very
happy day. Thankyou to Chris Skinner for organizing another noteworthy
Studebaker Car Run.

To view more photos of the run, please click on Photo Gallery.

- “Cooly Rocks On” 2011

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“Cooly Rocks On” 2011

With the departure of “Wintersun” to N.S.W. the new replacement “Cooly Rocks On” has more than proven that “Rock n Roll” is here to stay at Coolangatta.


The faithful “Cooly Rocks On” members from our Studebaker Club attended the weekend of
10th – 13th June, 2011. The rain and cool weather didn’t seem to dampen people’s enthusiasm.
Everyone was ready to “Rock n Roll” up and down Marine Parade, Griffith Street and Wharf
Street to view in orr at over 1000 Customs, Classics and Hotrods on show.

The “Rock n Roll “and “Rockabilly” bands were fantasic as usual and great to see and hear the sounds of the Highschool bands singing up a “Rock n Roll” storm.

The Saturday morning Street Parade along Marine Parade was a procession of “Rock n Roll” and
“Rockabilly” bands, dancers, Skating Derby girls and Classic cars with Little Pattie sitting up
high in the leading vehicle of the parade.

This year Elvis was bigger and better with Australia’s largest display of Elvis memorabilia,
owned by Rusty Roberts.

“Cooly Rocks On” was enjoyed again by all of us, a great fun weekend to relax, unwind and enjoy the never ending entertainment happening all around you.
See you all again same time and place in 2012.

More Photos of “Cooly Rocks On” are available for viewing in the Photo Gallery

- Bayside Cruise 2011

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Bayside Tour

On Saturday afternoon 26th March 2011, members & guests of our club gathered at the Club Rooms eagerly awaiting our Bayside Cruise. We were all given directions from the Club’s Social Secretary, Chris Skinner and headed off around 2.30 pm.

Our first stop was the Redlands Museum at Cleveland. The museum was filled with yesteryear memorabilia. Their latest exhibit was on Push Bikes which proved to be very interesting to the bike enthusiasts amongst us. Everyone reminisced over the museum’s collection while strolling around for the hour.

At 4pm we all headed off in convoy to Sirromet Winery at Mt Cotton. This winery is not only famous for wines, it also has a fantastic open air venue for live concerts. Some of us sampled the wine at the Cellar Door and purchased a bottle or two. Others enjoyed coffee, cake & ice cream. Our Studebakers attracted lots of attention as we entered and exited from the winery. The visit to Sirromet Winery was a pleasant way to spend part of the afternoon.

At around 5.30pm we drove to Victoria Point for our last stop which was the Rock’n’Roll Cafe for a Fish & Chip dinner. The Juke Box was playing while we drank, ate and chatted. Some of our members brought along their friends for the Bayside Cruise which they enjoyed, especially having a ride in a Studebaker!

The afternoon went far too quickly, the club run was most enjoyable and we all look forward to the next one. Thanks to Chris Skinner for organising this Bayside Cruise.

- Morayfield Auto Spectacular 2011

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The Morayfield Auto Spectacular kicked off at 9.00am on Saturday 12th February, 2011. Our Club had a representation of 13 Studebakers for the Show & Shine display.


Our Studebakers attracted many spectators as they looked grand parked in between the Club’s Studebaker flags flying high in the breeze.

Dave Lucas won a trophy for Best of 1950 for his 1952 Studebaker Starlight Coupe. George Udovicich won a trophy for Best Convertible for his 1961 Studebaker Lark Convertible. Our Club won the trophy for the Best Represented Car Club, the President Dick Adsett gladly accepted the Trophy.

This was the first Auto Spectacular organized by the Caboolture Community Action Group to raise greatly needed funds for the Homeless & Needy of the Caboolture Community.
The group has approximately 35 very hard working volunteers who each week raise funds through sausage sizzles every Saturday morning. Cook ups are also supplied twice a week by volunteer chefs and the food is donated by generous organizations.

Mr Mark Ryan, local member for Caboolture officially opened the Morayfield Auto Spectacular and thanked everyone for supporting this very worthy charity.
Total number of vehicles displayed was approximately 350 of which 201 entered the Show & Shine.

The day had plenty of activity, things to see & do with live Blues and Rockabilly music by The Zephyr Project, food & drink stalls to keep everyone happy.
The Stall holders helped raise much needed funds especially the Slushee stall who donated all of their takings on the day to the Caboolture Community Action Group. Thankyou to Dave Lucas for organizing our Studebaker Car Club to attend the Auto Spectacular, to Mick Malloy & Chris Skinner for helping with the judging and to Dick Adsett & Dave Lucas for taking the entry money at the gate.

Trophies were given for Best Car in different categories. Dave Lucas won a trophy for Best of 1950 for his 1952 Studebaker Starlight Coup. George Udovicich won a trophy for Best Convertible for his 1961 Studebaker Lark Convertible.
The Mayor’s choice – H.J. Monoro
People’s Choice – 1960 G.P. Jag
Car of the Show – Orange/Yellow Torana

The Studebaker Car Club of Qld donated trophies for the day. Our Club won the trophy for the Best Represented Car Club, and why wouldn’t we, with those fantastic Studebaker flags flying high!
The President Dick Adsett gladly accepted the trophy for all our sensational shiny Studebakers. Mr Bruce Panton was a main organiser for the Show & Shine for which he did a tremendous job, he also is one of the orginal members of the Queensland Studebaker Car Club.
Bruce was the Treasurer of the club in 1970.

Everyone had a fun day perusing all the Classic Cars, Utes, Hot Rods & Motorbikes, lots of great models, makes, colours and loud rumbling.

Our club hopes the day was a huge success for the Caboolture Community Action Group and we will be there again next year in our Studebakers to help support such a worthy charity.

More photos of the Morayfield Auto Spectacular are in the Photo Gallery.

- The Floods – 2011

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Our thoughts and condolences go out to everyone who has been affected by this natural disaster, especially those who are associated with the Studebaker Car Clubs of Australia.

We urge our members to support the Flood Disaster Appeal in any possible way.

The Brisbane River in full flood, taken from Mt Cootha Lookout.

- Qld Club Poster Collection On Display

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Club Poster

Members vehicles have been set into posters on display here.

- Members Stories – Part 3. Gwen McLoughlin And Lorna Venemas’ Studebaker Memories Written For The Club’s 40th Birthday Year 2009

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Qld Studebaker Club Members, Gwen McLoughlin and Lorna Venema remember stories from their early days for our Club’s 40th Anniversary Celebration Year of 2009.

As a past club President Gordon and Gwen McLoughlin have lots of Studebaker moments to remember.

John and Lorna Venema have many tales to tell. Lorna particularly remembers when they found their M16 Studebaker truck.

A short story by Gwen McLoughlin

Gordon, Carmel and myself attended the Studebaker Meet at Cooma. There was a large gathering from many other clubs and great cars on display. Sunday we set off for Thredbo with Lindy and Mike West. While in the Chalet at Thredbo it started to snow, a wonderful sight. Carmel came back to tell us she was staying awhile longer with Lindy and Mike. We were all ready to go in our 1959 Silver Hawk when Gordon wound down his window and got a lap full of snow off the roof of the car. The others came back to the Motel with a bag of snow in Mike West’s Ambulance. Monday morning on the point of leaving, Mike called out to the other club members to say goodbye. As they were coming off the balcony, Mike threw snow balls at them.

Don’t think we’d be welcome back there again!!

Last years 40th Anniversary Celebration Year was a great opportunity for members to write their Studebaker stories. Lorna Venema has added a special memory of her early Studebaker days.

Hi, Old and New Stude members. I was just going back in time… WOW!
A good memory of one of our tripa to my hometown Beechworth Victoria, was when we were at Bob and Joy Gpdleys home having a sing along and a BBQ.

Somebody told John about Mr Cronin in Dayesford, he had some old trucks so we ended up going there and buying our M16. It had carted wheat for many years, so we checked the oil and brakes and headed for Brisbane. We arrived at Jerilderie and the timing chain broke.
I wanted to leave M16 there but it ended up with ME towing it with a rope of many knots 300 miles to Dubbo behind my Rambler Rebel. I went on strike and left it at Mr Bells!

We went through Narrabri and John had to buy a Stude Station Wagon which also broke down several times as well. Bill Cunnington went back with John and towed the M16 with the Stude Station Wagon.
John did not talk to me for weeks, I told him I would help with Studies but I was not going to die for them!

Thank you all for many years of great friends and lots of great times.

- 39th Annual Concours 2010

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39th Annual Concours held at Queensland Maritime Museum, South Bank
on Sunday 29th August,2010

Club Members & their guests were wined and dined on board the H.M.A.S. Diamantina on Saturday night. The H.M.A.S.Diamantina is the only 1945 surviving River Class frigate in the world. She was gifted to the museum in 1980 and has been restored to her 1945 configuration by an innumerable amount of dedicated volunteers.

Many Members attended the B-B-Q dinner and had an enjoyable night wandering and exploring the levels of the ship. Thanks must go to the caterers, who call themselves Car 1900 from the Variety Bash. The guys cooked a great B-B-Q and also supplied a tasty breakfast and lunch at the Concours on Sunday. They were well supported, money raised goes to the Variety Club of Queensland. Also a scrumptious thankyou goes to Louise Cosgrove for the delicious chocolate dessert cake which everyone enjoyed with their coffee.

On Sunday morning, the Concours started early with our volunteers setting up the “newish” Studebaker tent, now with “Studebaker” printed on it which looked impressive for it’s first Concours, the flags were also on show for the first time at a Concours.
All the vehicles were on display by 9.00am ready to start the day of being inspected, talked about, photographed, admired and most importantly judged. The Venue for the Concours was in the grounds of the Maritime Museum at South Bank, next to the H.M.A.S. Diamantina and with a background of a lighthouse sitting on the edge of the Brisbane River. This certainly was a unique setting in which to hold our 39th Concours.

There were 3 first time exhibitors on display, the Studebakers were – 1968 Excalibur owned by Wolf Grodd, 1964 Daytona owned by Wayne Brosnan and 1960 Lark owned by Perry Gerber.
The Queensland Club is always well supported by the Newcastle & N.S.W visitors.
A sizeable variety of Studebakers, which included 5 interstate cars were on display giving a total of 31 vehicles altogether.

An unusual Studebaker entry at this year’s Concours was a Rare 51 Champion Businessman’s Coupe, owned by Club Members Lorna & John Venema. The Studebaker was built in Southbend, Indiana and was purchased by the Venemas in October 2006 while they were in Sandiego. The car was built as a basic, no frills model for Salesman to carry their goods in the oversized trunk. This is believed to be the only operational model in Australia.

We welcomed our overseas visitors from New Zealand who were Julie & Frank Ward – North Island, Kimbal Thompson – North Island and Tony McKinnon – South Island.
We hope they enjoyed their visit to the Queensland Concours and South Bank.

The Judges are always willing to volunteer their time and expertise in carefully inspecting an array of Studebakers. Many thanks go to our enthusiastic Judges who were – Dave Lucas, Shane Hodby, Gordon Thallon, Wayne Brosnan, John Cosgrove, Carl Murphy, Peter Lynch and Mike Cosgrove .

At 3.00pm everyone gathered around the “Studebaker” tent to hear the President Dick Adsett announce the winners for the Concours. Firstly, the Trophy for the longest distance travelled on “Wheels” this was awarded to Kimbal Thompson, New Zealand Studebaker Club member and friend to members of our Queensland Club.

Winners are listed below for the different categories.

Finned Hawk

1st Rob Fletcher
2nd Peter Leyden

Commercial

1st Steve Leyden
2nd Shane Hodby

Modified Winner

1st Perry Gerber
2nd Shaun O’Neill

Lark

1st George Udovicich
2nd Brian Jones

Cruiser

1st Chris Skinner
2nd Louise Cosgrove

GT Hawk

1st Russel Daw

Post War

1st Wolf Grodd

Avanti
1st Peter Lynch

TOP CAR – Steve Leyden – 1963 Champion

PEOPLE’S CHOICE – Rebel Adsett – 1959 Lark

The Raffle winner was Kimbal Thompson, lucky Kimbal won a basket full of goodies which he kindly shared amongst his Queensland Club friends.

Attendees of the Concours for 2010 are listed below.

Rebel Adsett 1959 Lark
Peter Leyden 1960 Hawk
Shaun O’Neill 1963 Lark
Steve Leyden 1963 Champ
George Udovicich 1961 Lark Convertible
John Venema 1951 Business Coupe
Dave Lucas 1960 Lark
Parry Gerber 1960 2 door Lark
John Cosgrove 1963 Wagon
Shane Hodby 1945 6×6
Louise Cosgrove 1964 Ambulance
Chris Skinner 1964 Daytona
Brian Jones 1960 Lark
Alan Arnold 1962 GT
Russel Daw 1962 GT
Carl Murphy 1963 GT
Rob Fletcher 1961 Hawk
Ross Oldman 1960 Hawk
Nathan Kramer 1963 Daytona
Les Scanlan 1962 GT
Malcolm Dunbar 1960 Hawk
Barry Fleming 1950 2R5
Harold Ireland 1958 Packard
Brett Hampson 1960 Lark
Wayne Brosnan 1964 Wagon
Mike Brazier 1963 Lark
Peter Lynch 1963 Avanti
Susie Bradford 1963 Lark
Dick Adsett 1964 Commander
Wolf Grood 1968 Excalibur
Des Skinner 1963 Avanti

Overall the 39th Annual Concours was another enjoyable weekend for everyone involved and especially for those who won trophies for their much loved Studebakers, all that polishing was worth it! A huge thankyou goes to President Dick Adsett and to all our tireless volunteers who always make everything such a success. See you all next year for the big one.

More photos are in the Queensland Concours 2010 album in the Gallery

- Studebakers at the RACQ Motorfest

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The Annual RACQ Motorfest was held on Sunday 11th July, 2010 at Eagle Farm Racecourse.

The Studebakers ready for inspection by thousands of onlookers at the RACQ Motorfest.

Club Members met at Hamilton Bowls Club at 7.00am for a departure at 7.15am. The Studebakers started to drive off in convey to arrive at Eagle Farm by 7.30am but there seemed to be a problem with a 1965 cruiser owned by Club Members Gail & Jim. Lucky for them there was help on hand with Club President, Dick Adsett & George Udovicich.

The key had broken off in the ignition, the battery was flat and to make matters more interesting the bonnet latch was frozen! This did not deter the willing mechanical minded car fanatics from lending a hand to fix the problems. After a short while Gail & Jim’s Studebaker was on the road again and everyone arrived at the racecourse to be part of another great Studebaker display in between the Club’s striking new flags.

All hands were on deck to raise the tent and have everything organised before the crowds started to arrive. The Club had a representation of 8 classic Studebakers on show, being part of the Motorfest gives the Club a positive image for anyone interested in Studebakers and joining the club. Dick Adsett was the lucky winner of the entry prize draw which was a basket full of goodies.

One of the best attractions for the day was a million dollar G1 Roadster which is the oldest Alfa Romeo in existence. RACQ stated that more than 12,000 people attended the Motorfest and money raised went to the RACQ Helicopter Rescue. Close to 800 cars and motorcycles were scattered around the racecourse with plenty of variety of vehicles.

The day was filled with live music, roving entertainers especially Marilyn Monroe & Elvis who made a special appearance at our Studebaker tent to sign autographs and have photos taken. Lots of food and great wine was available for the adults, while rides for the children kept them entertained. After some wine tasting by 2 Club Members, it was suggested that on our next Club run for the Maryborough weekend, we should visit one of the wineries near Gympie for some samples. We await further comment……

More photos of the Motorfest are available in the Photo Gallery.